Langsat is a tree growing to a height of 4 to 15 meters. Leaves are alternate, 20 to 40 centimeters long, with 5 to 7 leaflets, oblong to oblong-elliptic, 7 to 18 centimeters in length, and pointed at both ends. Flowers are small, yellow and borne on spikes, solitary or fascicled on the trunk or larger branches. Fruit is yellowish-white, occurring in bunches on a single stem, ellipsoid or globose, 2 to 4 centimeters long, with bitter seeds that are surrounded by a translucent pulp (arillus). The outer skin is thin and tough, abundant in a milky juice. The pulp occurs in five sections with one well-developed seed.

Distribution

– Cultivated for its fruit.

– Mainly occurs in Philippines, Indo-China, and the Malay Peninsula and Archipelago, in general cultivation.

Constituents

The rind yields 6% lansium acid which is toxic.

The fresh peeling yielded a volatile oil, a resin, and some reducing acids.

The resin is believed to be nontoxic and protective to the stomach against alcohol.

The outer skin of the fruit is rich in tannin.

From the seeds, two toxic and bitter substances and traces of an alkaloid.

The fruit pulp contains sucrose, saccharose, fructose and glucose.

Bark is astringent.

• Study isolated a new tetranortriterpenoid (Source)

• Study yielded five tetranoterpenoids, domesticulide A-E (1-5) from the seed. The seed extract was rich in limonoids.

• Yields triterpenoid lansiolides with antimalarial activity.

• Seeds yielded two tetranortriterpenoids, kokosanolide A (1) and C (2), together with 3 onoceranoid-type triterpenoid: kokosanolide B (3), 8,14-secogammacera-7,13-diene-3,21-dione (4) and a mixture of 8,14-secogammacera-7,14(27)-diene- 3,21-dione (5) and compound 4 isolated from the bark.

Properties

Bark is considered antipyretic and anthelmintic.

Parts utilized

Bark, fruit, leaves, seeds.

UsesNutritional

-The fruit pulp is succulent and delicious, and may be candied or preserved in syrup.

– Food value per 100 g of edible portion:

Moisture 86.5 g;

protein 0.8 g;

carbohydrates 9.5 g,

fiber 2.3 g;

calcium 20 mg;

phosphorus 30 mg;

vitamin A 13 IU;

thiamine 89 mcg;

riboflavin 124 mcg;

ascorbic acid 1 mg.

Folkloric traditional medicinal benefits and uses

– Decoction of bark and leaves used for dysentery.

– Peel, rich in oleoresin, used for diarrhea and intestinal spasms.

– Crushed seeds used for fevers.

– Astringent bark used for dysentery and malaria.

– Powdered bark used for scorpion stings.

– Bark resin used for flatulence and gastrointestinal colic, for swellings, and as antispasmodic.

– Grounded seeds mixed with water as vermifuge and antipyretic.

– Tincture prepared from the dried rind used for diarrhea and abdominal colic.

– In Java. seeds are used as vermifuge and antipyretic.

– In Indonesia, used for malaria.

Cosmetics or beauty benefits of langsat

– Cosmeceutical value from its antioxidant, moisturizing, whitening and lightening effects. Dry extract of fruit, re-dissolved in propylene glycol is used for skin depigmentation and as a moisturizer.

Others

– The dried fruit skins when burned emit an aromatic smell which repels mosquitoes. It also makes a pleasant room inhalant.

– The juice of the bark and fruit is recorded as used for poison arrow.

Lansium domesticum: skin and leaf extracts of this fruit tree interrupt the life cycle of Plasmodium falciparum, and are active towards a chloroquine-resistant strain of the parasite (T9) in vitro: Study indicates extracts of LD are a potential source for compounds with activity against chloroquine-resistant strains of P. falciparum.

Study yielded five tetratriterpenoids – domesticulide A-E from the seeds of Lansium domesticum together with 11 known triterpenoids. Eight of the compounds showed antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum.

• Antioxidant:

Extract of LD has shown to have antioxidant activity against DPPH free radical and anti-tyrosinase activity.

LD methanol extract was one of the study extracts that showed strong inhibition of melanin production of B16 melanoma cells without significant cytotoxicity, presenting as a potential ingredient for skin-whitening cosmetics if their safety can be confirmed.

Study isolated a new cycloartanoid triterpene from the leaves of LD. Some of the natural product derivatives show significant inhibitory activity on skin-tumor promotion on the basis of Epstein Barr virus activation.

Study isolated three new natural onoceranoid triterpenes from the fruit peel of LD together with two known triterpenoids. The triterpenoids exhibited mild toxicity against brine shrimp (Artemia salina).

Study evaluated the antiproliferative activities and phytoconstituents of Longkong extracts. Highest total phenolic and flavonoid content were seen in the cold and hot methanol extract of stalks. Hot and cold chloroform young fruit extracts exhibited cytotoxic effect against cancer cells. Cold chloroform young fruit extracts showed the highest apoptotic effect against KB cells.

Study evaluated the repellant effect of Lansium domesticum (lanzones) peel on mosquitoes. Results revealed that the effect of Lanzones peel as repellant is comparable to commercially available “katol,” a popularly used insecticide vaporizer.